审计独立性的缺失和审计失败【外文翻译】

1、外文翻译原文AuditorIndependenceDeficiencies&AllegedAuditFailuresMaterialSource:Author:MichaelA.PearsonABSTRACT:Somecriticsoftheaccounting/auditingprofessionintheUnitedStatesclaimthatindependence-relatedqualitycontrolproblemsarethecauseofanincreasednumberofallegedauditfailures.Certifiedpublicaccountant

2、s(CPAs)werequeriedregardingindependenceimpairmentintheirprofession.QuestionnaireresultsindicateanumberofCPAsbelieveindependencedeficienciesexist,andsomeCPAsadmittopersonalindependenceimpairment.ArecentrashofallegedauditfailuresintheUnitedStateshascausedconsiderableconcernamongusersoffinancialstateme

3、ntsandhasbroughtrenewedattentiontotheethicalconceptofauditorindependence.Klott(1984)reportsthattheauditingprofessionappears“pressuredbyfiercecompetitionforclientstocutcostsonauditexaminationsatatimewhenbusinesstransactionshavebecomemorecomplicatedtotraceandevaluate."Hefurtherstates,"Therei

4、saddedconcernthatcompetitivepressuresmayhaveerodedsomeoftheindependenceoftheauditor.Thefightforclientsmayforcetheauditortobendhisopinioninmarginalcasesinfavorofaclientandtoendorseacompany'sfinancialstatementratherthanrisklosingtheclient."TheAmericanInstituteofCertifiedPublicAccountants(AICP

5、A)hasidentified'ImprovingtheQualityofPracticebyCPAs'asoneof14majorissuesconfrontingtheaccounting/auditingprofession.'IndependenceandObjectivity'isanothercriticaltopic(AICPA,1984).Thisarticleprovidesempiricaldataonthesemattersanddiscussestheextenttowhichcertainindependence-relatedqual

6、itycontrolproblemsexist.ReasonsforauditfailuresAnauditfailuretakesplacewhenanauditorindicatestothepublicthataclient'sfinancialstatementsarefairlypresentedinaccordancewithgenerallyacceptedaccountingprincipleswheninfacttheyarenot.Perry(1984),formerchiefaccountantoftheU.S.SecuritiesandExchangeCommi

7、ssion'sDivisionofEnforcement,believesthefivemostcommonreasonsforauditfailures(hereafterdescribedasthe'Perryacts')are"scoperestrictions,incompetence,auditingbyconversation,notcriticallyevaluatingtransactions,andlackofobjectivityandskepticism."EachofthePerryactscanbedirectlylinke

8、dtotheconceptofauditorindependence.Independence,whichisoneelementofanauditingfirm'squalitycontrolsystem,isdefinedbytheaccounting/auditingprofessionintheUnitedStatesas"theabilitytoactwithintegrityandobjectivity"(AICPA,1985).Agreeingtoasignificantclient-imposedscoperestriction,acceptingt

9、hewordofmanagementforsomethingthatnormallyrequiresindependentverification,knowinglyneglectingthecriticalevaluationofasignificantclienttransaction,andlackingobjectivityandskepticism(by,forexample,agreeingtoobjectionableclientrequestsordemandsforthepurposeofkeepingaclientcontented)areactswhichineachca

10、sewouldindicatethattheauditorinfactlacksindependence.Anauditorwhocommitsanyofthesedeedsisnotperformingwithintegritynoristheauditoractinginanobjectivemanner.Instead,heorsheissubordinatingauditjudgmenttotheclient.Suchanauditorisnotfreefrombiasandisnottrulyabletoexpressanimpartialopiniononthefairpresen

11、tationoftheclient'sfinancialstatements.Incompetencecanalsobeviewedinthecontextofindependencedeficiency.Anauditorwhocompletesanengagementdespitenothavingtheleveloftrainingandexperiencenecessaryfortheparticularengagementisinessenceactingwithoutintegrity.Suchanengagementshouldneverbeaccepted(unless

12、theauditorbelievestheexpertisecanbeobtainedtofinishtheauditworkadequately).Itiscertainlyquestionablehowobjectiveanauditorcanbewhenheorshelacksappropriatetrainingandexperience.QualityofpracticequestionnaireIdeally,auditorsoffinancialstatementsareindependentineverysenseoftheword.IfthefivePerryactsaret

13、akingplacewithanysignificantdegreeoffrequency,thenstepsmustbetakentopreventfutureoccurrences.ThissectiondescribestheresultsofaresearchprojectdesignedtoassistindeterminingtheprevalenceofthePerryacts.AmailquestionnairewhichaskedpotentialrespondentshowoftentheyperceivedeachofthefivePerryactstooccurinau

14、ditpracticeandwhethertheythemselveswereeverguiltyofsuchactswaspreparedandmailedtoasampleofcertifiedpublicaccountants(CPAs)intheUnitedStates.TwohundredfiftyCPAsspecificallyidentifiedwiththeeightlargestU.S.accountingfirms(the'BigEight')and250CPAsspecificallyidentifiedwithotherfirms('non-Bi

15、gEight')wererandomlyselectedtoreceivethequestionnaire.Onlyindividualpractitioners,partners,orshareholders/officersofprofessionalcorporationsinpublicpracticewereincludedinthisselectionprocess.Ofatotalof137responsesreceived,120werefromCPAswhoarecurrentlyinvolvedintheindependentauditingoffinancials

16、tatementsintheUnitedStates;itistheresponsesofthese120auditorsthatarediscussedinthisarticle.BigEightCPAsrepresent59ofthe120responses;non-BigEighttotal61.Amajorityofbothgroupsreportsmorethan15yearsexperienceinauditing.TABLE1AuditorIndependenceDeficienciesQuestion:Howoftendoyouthinkthefollowingeventsor

17、activitiestakeplaceinthepracticeofindependentauditingoffinancialstatementsintheUnitedStates(notspecificallybyyourfirm)?PercentansweringNumberofrespondentsFrequentlyOccasionallyRarelyNever(A)ACPAagrees(orpermitsasubordinatetoagree)toasignificantclient-imposedscoperestriction.2%33%56%9%119(B)Anengagem

18、entiscompletedeventhoughtheCPAand/orsubordinatesdonothavetheappropriatelevelsoftrainingorexperiencethattheparticularengagementwarrants.15%54%28%3%118(C)ACPAaccepts(orpermitsasubordinatetoaccept)thewordofmanagementforsomethingthatnormallyrequiresindependentverification.12%63%22%3%118(D)ACPAknowinglyn

19、eglects(orpermitsasubordinatetoneglect)thecriticalevaluationofasignificantclienttransaction.2%28%61%9%118(E)ACPAagrees(orpermitsasubordinatetoagree)toaclientrequestordemand(otherthanarestrictiononauditscope)forthepurposeofkeepingtheclientcontented,eventhoughtheCPAknowsthatcomplyingwiththeparticular5

20、%45%41%9%117clientrequestordemandisnotappropriateunderthecircumstances.PerceptionsofindependencedeficienciesThequestionnaireincludedthestatement,"HowoftendoyouthinkthefollowingeventsoractivitiestakeplaceinthepracticeofindependentauditingoffinancialstatementsintheUnitedStates(notspecificallybyyo

21、urfirm)?"ThenthefivePerryactsweredescribed,alongwithpossibleresponsecategoriesof'Frequently','Occasionally','Rarely',and'Never'.TheactsandtheperceivedfrequencyoftheiroccurrencesappearinTableI.ResponsesofBigEightandnon-BigEightCPAsarereportedtogetherinTableIbecaus

22、eChi-squarestatisticsindicatethegroupsdiffersignificantlyatthe0.05levelonlyonresponsestoStatementA.(Respondingnon-BigEightCPAsperceivetheactivitydescribedinStatementAasoccurringmoreoftenthanrespondingBigEightCPAs.)Three-quartersoftherespondentsfeelthateither'frequently'or'occasionally

23、9;aCPAaccepts(orpermitsasubordinatetoaccept)thewordofmanagementforsomethingthatnormallyrequiresindependentverification.AlmostthatmanyrespondinthesamefashionwithrespecttothestatementthatanengagementiscompletedeventhoughtheCPAand/orsubordinatesdonothavetheappropriatelevelsoftrainingorexperiencethatthe

24、particularengagementwarrants.One-halfoftherespondentsindicateeither'frequently'or'occasionally'whenreplyingtothequestionabouthowoftenaCPAagrees(orpermitsasubordinatetoagree)toaclientrequestordemand(otherthanarestrictiononauditscope)forthepurposeofkeepingtheclientcontented,eventhought

25、heCPAknowsthatcomplyingwiththeparticularclientrequestordemandisnotappropriateunderthecircumstances.Overone-thirdrespondbysayingeither'frequently'or'occasionally'tothequestionofhowoftenaCPAagrees(orpermitsasubordinatetoagree)toasignificantclient-imposedscoperestriction.Finally,slightl

26、ylessthanathirdoftherespondentsciteeither'frequently'or'occasionally'whendescribinghowoftenaCPAknowinglyneglects(orpermitsasubordinatetoneglect)thecriticalevaluationofasignificantclienttransaction.WheninterpretingthequestionnaireresultsinTableI,itisimportanttorecognizethatrespondents

27、werenotreferringtotheoccurrenceofthePerryactsattheirownfirmsorwithinaspecificcategoryoffirms(i.e.,BigEightornon-BigEight).TheyweredescribinghowoftentheyperceivetheactsaretakingplaceinallpracticeofindependentauditingoffinancialstatementsintheUnitedStates.Inanycase,however,itisclearthatmanyrespondents

28、believethateachofthefivePerryactsishappeninginU.S.auditpracticewithmorethanjustanegligiblelevelofoccurrence.AlthoughtheresultsinTableIindicatethatrelativelyfewrespondentsbelievethePerryactsoccur'frequently',manyrespondentsfeeltheword'occasionally'isabetterdescriptionofoftennessthan&#

29、39;rarely'or'never'.译文审计独立性的缺失和审计失败资料来源:作者：MichaelA.Pearson摘要：美国一些会计/审计界的专家声称，独立相关的质量控制问题是审计失败案例越来越多发生的的原因之一。注册会计师(CPA)的独立性遭到质疑。问卷调查结果表明，很多注册会计师相信独立性存在不足，而且一些注册会计师承认个人独立性存在减值状况。最近一个被指控的美国审计失败案例，引起了相当多的财务报表使用者的关注，并再次带来了对审计师的独立性道德观念的关注。Klott(1984)的报告指出，审计行业出现了这种情况：当商业交易变的越来越复杂去跟踪和评估，激烈的竞争压

30、力使客户削减了一次在审计考试中的成本。他还说，“还有一点值得关注，竞争压力可能已经蚕食了一些审计师的独立性”为了争取客户，获得客户的青睐，可能会迫使一些审计师在弯曲边缘情况下支持公司的财务声明，以至于不失去客户。美国注册会计师协会(AICPA)已经确定了以“提高注册会计师执业质量”作为会计/审计专业面临的14个主要问题之一的方针。“独立性和客观性”是另一个重要的主题(AICPA,1984)。本文提供了有关这些问题的经验数据，并在某种程度上研究了一定的独立性与有关的质量控制问题存在着关系。审计失败的原因当审计失败发生时，审计师向公众表明，客户的财务报表是按照公认的会计原则进行编制的，而事实上他们

31、并没有这么做。Perry(1984),前首席会计师，美国证券和交易委员会分会的执行部长，认为审计失败的五个最常见的原因（以下简称为“Perry行为”的描述）是“范围的限制、能力不足、审计交谈、不谨慎评估交易和缺乏客观性与质疑感”。Perry行为的每一点都可以直接关系到审计师的独立性概念。独立性，这是审计事务所质量控制体系中的一种要素，是指在美国会计/审计被作为“采取正直和客观行动能力”的专业（美国注册会计师协会，1985）。而事实上，有些审计师同意一些重要客户规定的限定范围，接受管理的东西，明知忽略了重要客户事务的关键评价，即通常需要独立核查的词（即交谈审计），这就是缺乏了客观性和质疑感（例如

32、，客户请求同意或者反对，都始终保持满足客户需求的目的）。在这种情况下的行为，都表明了，审计师缺乏独立性。审计师的这些表现并没有执行正直的使命，同时也没有按客观的方式行事。相反，他们是服从了客户的审计判断。这样的审计师太偏见，提出的意见不能表现对客户财务报表的公平公正性。能力的不足也可以被视为在独立性方面上的不足。在约定后因没有足够的认知和经验，没有完成任务，从本质上讲，也是没有诚信的体现。这种理由不应该被接受（除非该审计师认为可以得到充分的专业知识来完成审计工作）。如何客观地评价这种缺乏足够的认知和经验的审计师，这是一个值得商榷的问题。实践质量的问卷理想的情况下，财务报表的审计师是独立这个词在

33、各个方面的体现。如果这5个Perry行为正在以某种频率程度的进行，那么必须采取措施，防止未来发生。本节旨在研究确定Perry行为盛行的原因。将问卷邮寄的方式进行调查，问题包括潜在受访者认为5个Perry行为一般在实际审计中多久会发生一次，是否他们自己也曾经犯有此类行为，另外还准备了一个公共认证的样本，邮寄到了在美国的注册会计师协会。从具体指定的八个美国最大的会计师事务所（即“八大”）和其他企业（“非八大”）中随机抽取的，共250名一起接受了问卷调查。只有个别医生、合作伙伴或公开执业的专业公司的股东和高级人员被列入此选择过程。一共收到137份答复，120个人来自目前从事独立审计的财务报表中的注册会计师。本文中将具体讨论这120名审计师的反应。八大会计师事务所中抽取的120名代表回应了59份；非八大中回复的一共有61份。表1审计师独立性的不足问题：你认为通常以下的事件或活动，在美国财务报表的独立审计实务中会发生么（不是特指您的公司）？回答的百分比例接受访问的人数经常偶尔很少从不（A）注册会计师向意（或者允许下属同